public diplomacy

Japan imposed new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday that were more limited than those announced last month by the United States, a move that analysts said illustrates Tokyo’s conflicting desires to show solidarity with Washington while also keeping the door open to improving ties with Moscow.

One of the nice things about being the most powerful person in the world is that people give you presents. It's unlikely that gifts from foreign countries do much to sway American diplomacy, but foreign visitors bestowing cumbersome or weird gifts is almost certainly one of the more entertaining parts of President Obama's job. 

US secretary of state John Kerry invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election tag line 'Sabka saath sabka vikas' at a Washington think-tank meeting before his India visit last week. While this may have been good diplomacy, investors and brand marketers are also trying to convey a greater cultural affinity. 

Yu Hyun-seok, president of the Korea Foundation, deplores the reality of Korean public diplomacy, citing the government’s lack of recognition in the importance of and investment in U.S. think tanks that have growing significance. 

Today we take for granted that information warfare — whether the disruption of other nations’ computer systems, the monitoring of citizens’ telephone calls to detect terrorist threats or the use of social media to shape foreign attitudes — is a key tool of national security. But virtually all our concerns about such tactics find their roots in the Great War, particularly in its first hours, when the Alert’s hatchet-wielding crew began its work.

Ethiopian Ambassadors and Consul generals, who gathered for the annual Ambassadorial meeting, participated on the Tigrai Diaspora day festival in Mekelle. 

Last night, Netanyahu continued his policy of minimizing risk as he signaled the end of Operation Protective Edge. This time, however, the dangers facing him are immeasurable: if the rocket fire on the south continues even after IDF forces withdraw from the Strip, he is likely to be held responsible for national humiliation, which would cause him to lose support from within his coalition, his party, and ultimately, the Prime Minister’s Office as well.

August 2, 2014

It is an established fact that despite the mammoth assistance, both military and economic, the US has failed miserably to achieve its objective of winning hearts and minds here. In contrast, China is perceived by the general public as a trustworthy and long-standing ally even though the aid and loans provided by China are nothing close to that given by the US. 

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